The Subject of Tragedy: Identity and Difference in Renaissance Drama

by Catherine Belsey

...Although (Belsey) uses the specialised vocabulary of modern critical theory, she writes with a clarity and zest which can carry along even an uninitiated reader.' - "THES".

Genres: Literary Criticism, Nonfiction, Shakespeare, Renaissance

Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Catherine Belsey is currently Research Professor at Swansea University and formerly Distinguished Research Professor at Cardiff University. Best known for her pioneering book, Critical Practice (Methuen, 1980), Catherine Belsey has an international reputation as a deft and sophisticated critical theorist and subtle and eloquent critic of literature, particularly of Renaissance texts. Her main area of work is on the implications of poststructuralist theory for aspects of cultural history and criticism. Her present project is ’Culture and the Real’, a consideration of the limitations of contemporary constructivism in the light of Lacanian psychoanalysis. Professor Belsey chairs the Centre for Critical and Cultural Theory, a research forum for discussion and debate on current views of the relation between human beings and culture.

Reviews

[Riley · Rating 3 out of 5]

was good

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

'The Subject of Tragedy' is an outstanding study on subjectivity, identity, ideology and many other aspects as they emerge in the major English Renaissance plays of the period, including some of Shakespeare's.

It is well-written and researched, very informative and in general it has really opened my eyes to countless implications that I have missed on my first reading of the plays. Although, 'The Subject of 'Tragedy' also tends to focus on specific plays, like Kyd's 'The Spanish Tragedy', 'Everyman', 'Doctor Faustus' and 'Hamlet' (to mention but a few), its general message and study can be applied to the whole theory or notion in general. There is a lot to chew on in this book, and I will definitely give it another look some of these days.

I have also just learned that there has been a 'Routledge Revival' of this book. Good to learn that these sort of books are being republished.